Process of recovering caffein



Jan. l, 1946. R. E. KREMERS PROCESS oF RECOVERING CAFFEIN Filed Jan. l2

l l Unven'or Patented Jan. 1, 1946 PROCESS F RECOVERING CAFFEIN Roland EfKremers, Summit, N. J., assignor 'to General Foods Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 12, 1943,'SerialNo. 472,175

7 Claims.

This invention relates to the removal and recovery of caffein from .its vsolution in organic solvents, particularly solvents which are used for the decaieination of coffee.

Caiein is usually extracted from coffee beans by a chlorinated solvent such as trichlorethylene which is then distilled to separate the caliein and r'e-used to extract a further quantity of beans. .For eicient extraction, andparticularly in order to remove all but negligible amounts of caifein from the coiee, it is `necessary to employ large volumes of solvent, and the cost of distillation is correspondingly large. In addition, processing costs are increased by sornevloss of sol-ventduring distillation.

One of the principal objects `of' the present invention is Vto elimnatethe necessity for distilling such large volumes of solvent, and to this end I propose to remove the caffein from the extracting solvent by adsorption Von a suitable medium and then to desorbit therefrom by means of a solvent of much smaller volume than the extracting solvent. It is known that Aalkaloids such as morphine can be adsorbed Von and'desorbed from clay as a base exchange reaction involving an acidiiied adsorbing solution and an alkaline desorbing solution. It is also known that 'caffein itself can be adsorbed from its aqueous solutions, but that it is only slightly adsorbed from alcohol, and it has been found that the base exchange method when applied "to c'a'ie'in is yso low in effectiveness that it is notfpractical for commercial use in operations Vsuch .as the decaifeination of coiee.

Accordingly another object oi the l'invention'.is to provide a novel process 'combining great 'effectiveness in both adsorption 'and desorption 'of caiein.

A vfurther object -is to provide a process ofthe type characterized above which is readily adaptable to previous vcoffee decafieination technic Without substantial modification thereof.

A still further object is to provide a novel process which not only is eiective in adsorption and desorption of caiein, but in which the adsorbing and desorbing solutions 'are correlated in such a way that problems of handling the solutions to avoid mixing, contamination, and the like are eliminated..

Another object is to enable a reduction in the duantity of decaleinating solvent required in batch processes of extracting coffee.

The invention is predicated on the discoveries that caiein is adsorbed by clay very effectively 'from chlorinated .organic-solvents of relatively low polarity or di-pole--momentfandconversely that it is desorbed from clay very effectively by non-chlorinated organic lsolvents of relatively high 'polarity or di-pole moment The V-correlation of these discoveries makes it possibleto use simple adsorption and desorption methods to separate the cafein from the extracting-solvent and to recover it from the'adsorbing medium, While providing at the same time a very'effective process having theradvantages mentioned above.

In carryingout this process, Ythe decaiein'atin'g solvent is preferably circulated through the beans to be extracted and also the `adsorbing medium. Thus the caiiein is removed from the circulating solvent as it is extracted from the coffee, and in Abatch extraction procedures, a substantially smaller quantity of solvent is required to vproduce the same degree of extraction vof a given quantity of coiee. However, regardless of 'the'in'ethod 'of extraction employed ythe quantity of Vdesorbing solvent needed to remove the caffein from the clay, and in the end distilled toV recover the caffein, is much less than the quantityof d ecaeinating' solvent used, VAs compared with lthe procedure now generally used, therefore, a process embodyingthe present invention has marked advantages in solvent economy and distillation costs.

Furthermore, this method is readily adaptable to existing procedures, inasmuch as the solvents now commonly used for decaffeination of coffee are those which are especially desired for'adsorption, i. e., 'chlorinated organic solvents of relatively lovv polaritysu'ch as trichlorethylene, "cari bon tetrachloride, methylene chloride, ethylene dichloride, chloroform, etc. On the other hand,- non-chlorinated organic solvents of relatively high polarity, which are effective lfor desorption, are readily available, such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, acetone, methyl acetate, pyridine, aniline, piperidine, ethanolamine, diethanolamine, etc. These two classes of solvents are respectively described hereinafter and in the claims by the terms "relatively low polarity and relatively high polarity, the meaning of which vvill be clear by the vforegoing examples. Solvents in both of these classes are theoreticallyncapable of being used either for adsorption or for desorption, but their effectiveness varies greatly and correlation of -members of the two classes in the manner explained above is necessary to secure the results set forth and to .provide-a practical and economical process.

The effectiveness Iof adsorption `and desorptionl according to the invention and the practical results which can be obtained are illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1 200 cc. of trichlorethylene, 20 gms. of clay and 100 gms. of green coffee beans containing 35% moisture by weight, were continuously agitated together for 48 hours, during which time the trichlorethylene extracted caein from the coffee beans and in turn lost it to the clay by adsorption. At the end of the treatment the bulk of the solvent was drained olf and residual clay was rinsed away from the beans with a little additional solvent. A caifein assay showed that 89% of the caffein was removed from the beans and adsorbed on the clay. Still more extraction would have been obtained by increasing the ratio of clay to coffee. Without clay, on the other hand, and although the amount of solvent was increased to 714 cc., or more than three times as much, only 60% extraction was obtained.

Example 2 20 liters of trichlorethylene containing about 0.1% by weight of caffein and 0.1% by weight of coffee wax in solution, or approximately what the solvent would contain in extraction procedures as now generally practiced, were pumped through two adsorbent clay chambers connected in series. Each chamber contained 280 gms. of a mixture of 75% clay with 25% filter aid used to facilitate passage of the trichlorethylene through the clay. All of the caffein was adsorbed by the clay.

Example 3 6.0 gms. of clay containing 0.80 gm. of adsorbed caffein were agitated with 100 cc. of methanol. After filtration of the methanol from the clay, analysis showed that 0.52 gm. of caffein, or 65% of that originally adsorbed on the clay, had been desorbed.

Example 4 6.0 gms. of clay containing 0.82 gm. of adsorbed caffein were agitated with 100 cc. of acetone. After filtration of the acetone from the clay, analysis showed that 0.44 gm. of caein, or 55% of that originally adsorbed on the clay, had been desorbed.

Example 5 Twenty liters of trichlorethylene containing about 0.1% by weight of caffein and 0.1% by weight of coffee wax in solution were pumped through two clay chambers, as in Example 2, and all of the caifein was adsorbed on the clay. Desorption of the total amount of Icaiein was accomplished by pumping four liters of' a mixture of approximately equal volumes of trichlorethylene and methanol through the chambers. The cafein was then` recovered by distilling the desorbing solvent. Thus it will be seen that, whereas the recovery of caffein from its original solution in trichlorethylene as now practiced would have required distilling 20 liters of this solvent, the use of the adsorbing and desorbing procedures enabled the recovery of the caffein by distillation of only four liters of desorbing solvent. It is estimated that vthe corresponding reduction in heat requirement was about 65%.

As indicated by the foregoing example, the invention is not limited to the use of single solvents for either adsorption or desorption. I have found that, insofar as the desorption of caffein is concerned, mixtures of solvents may be equally as effective as, and in some cases more effective than, their individual components, provided that such mixtures include at least one component of relatively high polarity. The effectiveness for desorption of some mixtures of solvents of relatively high polarity is shown in Table l, while Table 2 shows the effectiveness for desorption of some mixtures of solvents of relatively high and low polarity. The conditions under which these tests were carried out were the same as for Examples For adsorption I prefer to use trichlorethylene, not only because it is highly effective, but also because of characteristics which make it desirable for use in the decaffeination of coffee. It is nonlcorrosive, non-inflammable and relatively nontoxic, it has a suitable boiling point, and it is a stable solvent having substantially no deleterious effect on the coffee or the caffein extracted therefrom. It is also immiscible in water and has a low latent heat of evaporation, and in addition. its cost is low as compared to other chlorinated solvents.

For desorption I prefer to use a minimum boiling point azeotropic mixture comprising one or more non-chlorinated organic solvents of relatively high polarity and also the particular chlorinated solvent employed for decaffeination and adsorption. Because such a mixture can admix with the adsorbing solvent and yet a mixture of preferably employed for desorption also contains trichlorethylene. Such mixtures are preferred not only because of the advantages set forth above, but also because they are less inflammable than their non-chlorinated component or components. For example, a mixture consisting of approximately equal volfumes of trichlorethylene and methanol is highly effective for desorption as shown by Table 2 and, in contrast to methanol, is practically non-inflammable.

Various known adsorbent clays are suitable for use in the present process, although their effectiveness, for the adsorption ofy caire-in varies considerably. I prefer to use fullers earths of the hydrous aluminum silicate type of Lloyds Reagent, 'which have thus far beenl found most eiective. These clays are relatively strong buf-- fers for both acid and alkaline solutions, and in general tend to have a, pH- of 7 or greater measured after equilibrium has been established with the caffein solution. Examples of suitable clays now obtainable on the market are Lloyds Re-A agent, Magnesol (a synthetic magnesium silicate), various types of Filtrol (anactivated natural product), and other fullers earths such as those marketed under the designations XL Superne English Fullers Earth, XL, FP,'

and OK fullersearths, XL Fullers Earth #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, etc.

Procedures suitable for the practice of my invention will now be described in connection with the flow sheet shown in the accompanying drawing, it being understood that-these proceduresare given by Way of illustration and example only and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of my invention, reference being had for the la-tter purpose to the appended claims.

Green coiee beans, moistened by steam or moisture in accordance with the usual practicein the art, are charged in adecaieinating drum I. Decaifeinating solvent, such as trichlorethylene, is stored in a tank 2, and desorbing. solution, such as the mixture of trichlorethylene and methanol referred to above, is distilled. and con,- densed at 3` and stored in tank 4, Theadsorbing and desorbing chambers and 6- are charged with one or more of the clays referred to above, and. the system is completed bya suitable arrangementr of pumps, pipes andy valves.- depending on the type of operation to be carried out.

For example, assuming all valves closed except 1 and 8'y trichlorethylene is pumped by means of pump 5 from storage tank 2 to drum I Where it extracts the caiein fro-m theA beans. By means of pump ID- the caiein-containingtrichlorethylene is pumped from the drum I through llter I I'. which removes any insoluble foreigny matter which may have been picked up from the coffee, and thence through valve I to, chamber 5, where the dissolved caffein is adsorbed. The caffeinfree solvent4 thenV passes through valve 8 back to the storage tank 2; The trichlorethylenel is passed through chamber 5 untilI caiTein begins to appear in the outgoing; solvent, at which time itl is diverted to the second clay chamber Ii` by open. ing valves I2 and I3 and closing valves l and 8. The caiein adsorption process thus continues without interruption.

The caein adsorbed in chamber 5. may now be desorbed by opening valves IA and I5, the desorbing mixture being pumped by means of pump I6 from storage tank 4 through chamber 5 and back to the distilling apparatus 3, and carryingV with it the desorbed caffein and also the small amount of trichlorethylene remaining on the clay from the previous operation of adsorption. Any desorbing mixture remaining in chamber 5 after desorption may then be washed out by clos-` and I8-, the caffein in chamber 6 may be-desorbcd` as described above for chamber 5, any desorbing mixture remaining in chamber 6 after desorption being washedv out by closing valve I'I'V and open-Y ing valve I2. Thus, a continuous process of` ad.- sorption` and desorption is maintained.

It will be noted that, due to the Washing out of residual trichlorethylene by the desorbing mixture and of' residual desorbing mixture by trichlorethylene, the decaffeinating solvent is not contaminated` with desorbing` mixture, but on the other hand the liquid entering the distilling apparatus becomes richer in tricchlorethylene than the desorbing mixture stored in tank 4; How-f.

y ever, since this mixture has a minimum boiling point azeotropic composition, the condensed vae, por leaving the distilling apparatus 3I is ofthe same composition and hence may be returned` directly tothe tank iA for re-,use, the excess tri:-Y chlorethylene remaining in the distilling apparatus.

The caffein-containing residue may be removed from the distilling apparatus either continuously or at regular intervals, as desired, and separated into its components in any suitable way. This residue will ordinarily contain some coffee wax, which is removed from the coffee and adsorbed on and desorbed from the clay along with the cafein. Hence the mixture may be subjected to. steam distillation to remove the trichlorethylene, and the remaining aqueous sludge having caiein in solution and wax in suspension may be transferred to a settling tank where the wax separates as an upper layer and is skimmed oi. The caffein solution may then be treated with charcoal for the removal of discoloring impurities and the caffein finally separated by crystallization and subsequently puried.

While the foregoing procedures have been described in connectionA with two clay chambers connected in parallel, it will be understood that` any number of chambers connected in either parallel or series may be employed. In many cases, for example, it may be desirable to employ chambers in series, or groups and to operate them for adsorption and/or desorption, in accordance with well-known countercurrent principles. For example, the chambers 5 and 6 shown in the accompanying ow sheet may first be connected in series for the passage of the adsorbing solution by opening valves 1, I9 and I3. After a desired period, chamber 5 may be disconnected by closing valves 1 and i9, and the adsorbing solution may continue to pass through chamber 6 if desired by opening valve I2. Desorbing solvent may noyv be passed through chamber 5 by opening valves I4 and I5. After desorption and washing out as explained above, chamber 5 may be made the second chamber in the series by closing valves I4 and I5, opening valves I9 and 8, and closing valve I3. Thereafter chamber 6. may be similarly disconnected, desorbed, and reconnected as the second chamber in the series.

current adsorption effect maybe attained.

ing valve I4, opening valve 1, and allowing an Alternatively, the two chambers may be desorbed in series by opening valves I1, I9 and I5, or valves I4, IS and I8. Thus the cafein may be successively adsorbed in and desorbed from both chambers in series, the directions of flow being controlled as desired.

The results obtainable with a countercurrent adsorption procedure are illustrated by the following test runs. Two clay chambers were used,

each beingv lled with 370 gms. of a mixtureof XL Superne English Fullers Earth and Thus a counter- 25% Hy Flo Super Cel which served merely as a rllter aid to facilitate passage of the solutions through the clay. For each adsorption, 20 liters of trichlorethylene containing 28 gms. each of caffein and coffee wax were passed in series through the chambers, the direction of flow being .reversed for each adsorption as explained above.

Following each adsorption, the rst chamber in the series was desorbed by pumping through it 4 liters of a mixture of equal volumes of trichlorethylene and` methanol, this chamber then being reconnected as the second chamber in the series for the subsequent adsorption. In one instance, however, both chambers were desorbed simultaneously. Analyses for caiein and coi-ee wax were made on the adsorbing solution both before and after each adsorption, and on the desorbing solution after each desorption. Twelve cycles of adsorption and desorption produced the following results:

Table 3.-Ca1fei1z Adsorption Desorption Gham- Net Grams Grams Gms 3er Ggms 1grams in out eoft on sorbed Sorbed sorbcd clay 28. 6 0. 0 28. 6 1 26. (i 2. 0 31.0 0.() 31. 2 27.8 5.2 31. 0 0.0 31.0 1 25.6 10.6 30. 2 C. 4 29. S 2 24. 5 15. 9 27. 3 D. O 27. 9 1 23. 9 19. 9 29. 9 0. l 29. 8 2 2t?. 4 23. 3 29.0 0.3 28.7 1 & 2 40.8 11.2 28. 8 0. 0 28. 8 2 27. 0 13. 0 2G. l 0. (l 26. 1 1 25. 2 13. 9 27. 2 0. 0 27. 2 2 22. 9 18. 2 30. 2 G. 0 36. 2 1 5 23. 9 28. 8 0. 12 28. 7 2 25. 4 27. 2 1 17. S 9. 4

Table 4.-Wa

Adsorption Desorption Cham- Net Grams Grams Glfls ler Gaems lgrfams in out ec t on sorbed Sn-rbed sorbed clay 28.0 9. 5 18. 5 1 9.7 8.8 37. 6 18. 8 18. S 2 9. 5 18. 1 43. 0 8 14. 2 1 14. 5 17. 8 56. 4 42. 2 14. 2 2 15. 0 l17. 0 (i1. 4 47. 7 13. 7 1 14. 3 16. 4 G9. 1 55. 8 13. 3 2 13. 6 16. 1 77. 6 63. 4 14. 2 1 & 2 26. 7 3,6 90. (l 63. 8 26. 2 2 14. 1 15.7 92. 2 75. 5 16. 7 1 16. 8 15. 6 104. 9 87. 3 17. 6 2 17. 2 16. 0 110. 9 94. 8 16. 1 1 18. 1 1.4. 0 127.2 110.2 17.0 2 19.4 11.6 1 16. 4 4. 8

It will be observed from these tables that the adsorption of caffein from the trichlorethylene was completely effective, and that while desorption left a small amount of caffein on the clay, there was no substantial loss of caiein over the entire test. A total of approximately 348 gms. of caffein were'adsorbed by the clay, whereas after desorption of both chambers at the end of the test, only 9.4 gms. remained on the clay. Had the tesi-l been continued over a greater member of cycles, this loss would have been proportionately smaller. At the same time the volume of desorbing solvent to be distilled was only onefth that of the decaieinating solvent.

Moreover, in the case of batch extraction with continuously circulating decaffeinating solvent, as explained in Example 1, the amount of decaieinating solvent could have been materially reduced without sacrifice of eiiiciency.

Table 3 also shows that only a relatively small part of the coffee wax in the decaffeinating solvent Was adsorbed on and desorbed from the clay, so that the problem of separating caiein and coffee Wax was simplified to a corresponding degree. The concentration of coiee Wax in the decaffeinating solvent accordingly increased, but did not in any Way interfere with the effectiveness of adsorption or desorption of caffein.

It will be understood that the examples and i procedures given above are for purposes of illustration only and that various substitutions and changes within the spirit of the invention will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is.:

1. A process for decaffeinating coffee and recovering the caffein which comprises dissolving the caiein from the coffee in a chlorinated organic solvent of relatively low polarity, adsorbing the caffein from said solvent on clay, desorb-k ing the caffein from the clay by a non-chlorinated organic solvent of relatively high polarity, and recovering the caffein from said second solvent.

2. A process for decaffeinating coiee and recovering the caffein which comprises dissolving the caiein from the coffee in a chlorinated organic solvent of relatively low polarity, adsorbing the caifein from said solvent on clay, desorbing the caffein from the clay by a mixture of solvents containing at least one non-chlorinated organic solvent of relatively high polarity, and recovering the caiein from said mixture of solvents.

3. A process for decaleinating coffee and recovering the caifein which comprises dissolving the caiein from the coffee in a chlorinated organic solvent of relatively low polarity, adsorbing the caifein from said solvent on clay, desorbing the caffein from the clay by a mixture of solvents containing at least one non-chlorinated organic solvent of relatively high polarity and also said chlorinated solvent and comprising a minimum boiling point azeotropic mixture, and distilling the caffein-containing mixture to separate the caifein and said azeotropic mixture.

4. A process for decaifeinating coffee and recovering the caffein which comprises dissolving theA caiein from the coiee in a chlorinated organic solvent of relatively low polarity, adsorbing the caffein from said solvent on clay, desorbing the oalfein from the clay by a 'mixture of said solvent and a non-chlorinated organic solvent of relatively high polarity in minimum boiling point azeotropic proportions, washing the desorbed clay with said chlorinated solvent, and distilling the combined Washings and mixture of solvents to separate said mixture of solvents from the caffein.

5. In a. method of recovering caffein from its solution in a chlorinated organic solvent of relatively low polarity, the steps of adsorbing the caifein from its solution on clay, desorbing the caffein from the clay by a non-chlorinated solvent of relatively high polarity, and recovering` the caiein from said second solvent.

6. In a method of recovering caiein from its solution in a chlorinated organic solvent of relatively low polarity, the steps of adsorbing the caifein from its solution on clay, desorbing the' `caffein from the clay by a mixture of said solvent and a non-chlorinated organic solvent of relatively high polarity in minimum boiling point azeotropic proportions, and distilling the desorbing solution to separate said mixture from the caffein.

'1. A batch process for decaffeinating coiee which comprises circulating a chlorinated organic caifein solvent of relatively low polarity through a batch of coffee and a clay adsorbent for caein until the desired amount of caiein has been extracted from the coffee and adsorbed on the clay, and thereafter desorbing the caffein from the clay by a non-chlorinated organic solvent of relatively high polarity and recovering the caiein therefrom.

ROLAND E. KREMERS. 

